Horizon: Honest Scales
by InvisiblePrincess2002
Summary: The second story in my Horizon series. AU. Millionaire businessman George Jefferson has had to deal with many challenges over the course of his life, but now, he is faced with his greatest challenge yet: winning the heart of a very special lady in Haven Lake, Massachusetts named Louise Wood.
1. Lady in Red

**Author's Note: **This story is based on the CBS television series _The Jeffersons_ and as far as I know, it is the property of Columbia Pictures Television, Sony Pictures Television, TAT Communications Company, Embassy Television, Shout! Factory, and of course, CBS. **No infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Summary: **George and Lionel Jefferson are shocked when Louise Wood comes to George's office in Manhattan to talk to him in person.

**Chapter 1: Lady in Red**

Louise had begun her drive from Haven Lake to Manhattan at about eight-thirty that morning, and she arrived at about two o'clock that afternoon. The day before yesterday, she had spoken with George Jefferson's secretary, Camille, and she assured her that he was always in his office, even on weekends, and that it would be perfectly fine for her to make the drive there to see him on Saturday; that he'd be more than happy to meet with her. As soon as she arrived in Manhattan, she checked into a hotel and then she called Mark to let him know that she'd arrived safely. After that, she drove to George Jefferson's main office in downtown Manhattan.

Minutes before Louise arrived, George was in his office, up to his eyeballs in paperwork as always, but he wasn't getting much work done because his son Lionel was also there, arguing with him. Lionel Jefferson, a twenty-eight-year-old electrical engineer, was currently living in Dallas with his wife Jenny, and they were now in New York during Lionel's two-week vacation, visiting their parents. There had been a huge rift between George and Lionel ever since the disappearance of Lionel's mother six years ago, and Lionel had tried in vain to begin repairing his broken relationship with his father when he first arrived last week. Lionel and Jenny were now staying with Jenny's parents, Tom and Helen Willis, and they had one week left in their stay before they had to return home, and Lionel was trying yet again today to build a much-needed bridge between his father and himself while he still had time here. And unfortunately, he was getting nowhere. And George's latest business endeavor, which basically involved him bribing the authorities in Massachusetts to force a bakery owner out of her home and business, was not helping matters at all.

"I still can't believe you're doing this, Pop," Lionel complained to his father on this bright, sunny Saturday afternoon in mid-May.

"Lionel, you should be glad I'm doin' this. This could mean a lot of money for Jefferson Cleaners on down the road. And the more money my business makes, the more money _you'll _inherit someday when I'm gone."

"Didn't it ever once occur to you that there just might be some things in life that are more important than money? Like morals? Like doing the right thing?"

"I am doin' the right thing! Earnin' as much money as you can so that your family can live their lives in comfort is always the right thing!"

"Can it, Pop. You're not doing this because you want Grandma and Jenny and me to live in comfort. No, the only person you're doing this for is _you. You_ want to open another cleaning store. _You_ want another notch on your belt. This isn't about me or Jenny or Grandma or anybody but _you_. You and your ego. You're mad at this lady because she's fighting you; because she won't let you bully her into giving you what you want. You've turned this whole thing into a petty little contest that you have just got to win at all costs no matter what. You don't even care about what's right anymore. You don't care that there's a woman in Massachusetts who could lose her business and her home all because of you. You only care about winning the battle and coming out on top at all costs, no matter how badly it might hurt somebody else. You think that being a man is all about pride and ego. You think that being a man means winning all the time no matter what and that nothing else matters. But we both know that if Mom were still here, she wouldn't let you get away with this for a fraction of a second. Since we lost Mom six years ago, you really have forgotten what it means to be a man."

George instantly shot up from his seat, got up in his son's face, and yelled, "Get out! Get out now before I beat the crap out of you!"

In that instant, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" George yelled in the same furious voice he'd just used with Lionel.

In the following moments, the hearts of both father and son completely stopped as the doorknob turned and the most lovely lady in a wheelchair opened the door and wheeled herself inside. She was wearing a red dress and her hair and makeup were done to perfection, and both men were utterly stunned at the sight of her. Not only because of her beauty, of course, but because of the shocking fact that she was the wife and the mother that they had lost six years ago.

For the longest time, neither George nor Lionel could utter a word; all they could do was just stand there in stunned silence. It was all they could do to breathe. Finally, it was Louise who broke the silence. Looking directly at George, Louise said in the deep voice he'd yearned to hear for so long now, "Mr. Jefferson, I know that you're a very busy man, so I won't waste any time. I'll just come straight to the point. My name is Louise Wood, and I'm the owner of the Haven Lake Bakery in Haven Lake, Massachusetts."

George was far too shocked to even try to speak, but thankfully, Lionel was able to get his bearings a lot faster and really process what his mother had just told them.

"So…_you_ are Louise Wood? The bakery owner?" asked Lionel.

"That's correct," Louise responded. "And if I may ask, who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?"

"How could I? I've never seen you before today," Louise told him.

"Uh…um…I'm Lionel Jefferson," Lionel stammered.

"Mr. Jefferson's son?"

"That's right."

"Oh, hello," Louise said kindly while holding her hand out to Lionel.

"Hello," said Lionel as he shook hands with his mother.

Louise then turned her attention back to George, and she said to him, "Like I was just saying, Mr. Jefferson, I'm just going to come right to the point. Six years ago, I was in a horrible accident. My legs were crushed beyond repair, and I received a terrible blow to the head. And when I came to in the hospital in Boston, I didn't have any memories of my life at all. The only thing I knew about myself was my first name. I had to start a brand new life from scratch. And I've done it. As hard as it's been, I've succeeded in building a good life for myself in Haven Lake over the past six years. After going through a long, painful recovery, I started a career as a baker, and ever since the previous owner of the Haven Lake Bakery died a year and a half ago and left it to me, I've been running it, and my two daughters and I have been living in the apartment on the floor upstairs."

"Your two daughters?" Lionel said in disbelief.

"Yes. I have two little girls, Melissa and Angie," Louise informed Lionel. She then turned her attention back to George. "Anyway, Mr. Jefferson, I was coming to a point. And my point is this: you don't want to mess with me. You may be a powerful millionaire, but if you try to push my children and me out of our home and if you try to take my business away from me, I won't hesitate to fight back."

"Don't worry, Ms. Wood. I promise you that my father won't touch your home or your business," Lionel quickly assured Louise as his eyes bore into his father's.

"I appreciate you saying that, but I want to hear it from your father," Louise insisted.

After a long pause, George, who was just barely processing everything that Louise had just told them, finally looked at her and said, "I'll stop everything. I'll talk to the local authorities in Haven Lake. I won't have them condemn your bakery. I won't touch your home. I won't touch your bakery."

"Do I have your word on that?"

"Yes," George whispered, fighting off tears. "You have my word."

"Thank you," said Louise, who was clearly very surprised that he had changed his mind so quickly. "Thank you very much, Mr. Jefferson."

"No, thank _you,_ Ms. Wood," said Lionel. "Thank you for coming all this way."

"I'm glad we were able to get this whole dispute straightened out," said Louise.

"So am I," Lionel agreed.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I won't take up any more of your time. I'll get out of your hair."

"Oh no, wait, Ms. Wood. Listen. Since we've put you to all this trouble, worrying you about your business, making you come out here all the way from Massachusetts, why don't you let my wife and me treat you to dinner tonight? How about it?"

"Oh, no. I couldn't trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all. Believe me, there is nothing we'd rather do than take you to dinner this evening."

"Well…alright. If you insist."

"I insist."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Just tell me where you're staying and Jenny and I will pick you up tonight at seven."

Louise then told Lionel what hotel she was staying in and afterwards, she and Lionel said goodbye and she left.

The instant Louise was gone, George began to collapse.

"Pop!" Lionel cried out, and then he quickly caught George and helped him to sit down. "Easy, Pop," Lionel said gently. "Easy. Easy. Just take it easy."

It took George several moments before he finally caught his breath, and when he did, he looked at his son with tears streaming down his face. "She's alive, Lionel," he gasped. "She's alive. I don't believe it."

"I know, Pop. I know," Lionel whispered.

"She's alive. She's really alive. Weezy's alive."

Lionel reached out and hugged George in that moment as he broke down into sobs.


	2. Choosing Louise

**A/N: **See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

**Chapter Summary: **Lionel and Jenny take Louise out to dinner and come back to George's apartment with some shocking information.

**Chapter 2: Choosing Louise**

George and Lionel went back to George's apartment almost immediately after Louise left, and the moment they got there, Lionel called the Willises and told them to come downstairs with Jenny as soon as possible. They arrived a couple of minutes later, and to say the least, they were shocked when Lionel told them that his mother was still alive and that they'd just seen her. Understandably, it took them several minutes to really digest everything that Lionel and George were telling them, and Tom, Helen, and Jenny cried many tears of joy and relief.

"So you and Jenny are going to take Louise out to dinner tonight?" Helen asked Lionel as soon as everything had calmed down.

"That's right, Mrs. Willis," Lionel confirmed. "I figured it was the least we could do after everything she's been through lately."

"I can't believe it, Lionel," Jenny chimed in. "I just can't believe it. After all this time, after all these years, we finally have your mother back."

"I know," Lionel said with a smile. "I can't believe it either."

"Neither can I," said George. "After all this time, I thought I'd lost Weezy for good. I was so scared deep down that I'd never see her again. I can't wait for dinner tonight. I'm gonna tell Weezy everything. I'm gonna tell her all about us. And then I'm tellin' her that she can pack her things and kiss that bakery goodbye because she's comin' home to be with me where she belongs."

Lionel shook his head then and said, "No, Pop. With all due respect, you are _not_ coming to dinner with us tonight."

"What are you talkin' about? Of course I am! Weezy's my wife."

"Not from _her _perspective, she's not. All her memories are gone. She didn't even know who we were. Pop, she doesn't know you from Adam. And I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but the _last _thing we need right now is for you to go to dinner with us tonight and you start running your mouth, saying a bunch of stupid things that'll just drive Mom farther away from us."

"Who do you think you are to say somethin' like that to me?! I haven't seen my wife in over six years and there ain't no way you're gonna keep me from her now!"

"Newsflash, Pop: _you _are _not_ the only person who's been hurting these past six years! I know that it hurt you terribly when Mom disappeared, but it hurt all of us just as much as it hurt you, and _we all _have been suffering just as much as you have."

"Amen," said Helen.

"That's true," Tom agreed.

"You lost your wife, yes, but I also lost my mother. Jenny lost her mother-in-law and her friend. The Willises lost their best friend. And that loss has hurt all the rest of us a lot more than I think you realize."

"What's your point?" asked George.

"My point is, we lost six years with a person we all love so much, and we lost that time with her _because of you_. We don't know how Mom ended up all the way in Massachusetts and we don't know how she got into such a terrible accident, but _we do know _that she left _because she was trying to get away from you_," said Lionel, and the instant those words came out of his mouth, George visibly winced because he knew better than anyone just how true those words were. Even though he was usually too proud to openly admit it, he was constantly tormented by the cruel things he had said to Louise on that fateful day she disappeared. "Like it or not," Lionel continued, "it was _you _who got all of us into this mess six years ago. We all lost six years with Mom _because of you_. Because of _your _stupidity._ Your _arrogance. _Your _ego. _Your _big mouth. And after all that we have been through over the years because of you, there isn't a snowflake's chance in hell that I'm letting you come to dinner with us tonight. _I am not _going to lose another six years with my mother because _you _did something stupid to drive her away again."

The silence over the next few moments was deafening. Amazingly, George actually did manage to keep his big mouth shut then for the simple reason that there wasn't anything he could possibly say in his own defense, and he knew it. Like everyone else there that day, George knew painfully well how right Lionel was.

"Come on, Jenny," Lionel said quietly. "Let's go get ready for tonight."

"Okay, Lionel," Jenny agreed, and then they left, and the Willises followed a couple of minutes later.

* * *

"I really want to apologize for everything my father has put you through, Ms. Wood," Lionel told Louise at dinner later on that night. They had arrived at a lovely Italian restaurant and given the waiter their orders about thirty minutes ago.

"That's very kind of you, Lionel, but you don't owe me any apologies," Louise assured him. "You aren't responsible for the things your father does."

"Maybe not, but I still feel horrible about this whole thing."

"And that's a pretty common thing in our family. Mr. Jefferson is an expert at making other people feel horrible," Jenny quipped.

"So I take it that you don't exactly get along with your father-in-law," Louise observed.

Jenny chuckled and said, "Are you kidding? I've never been able to get along with him. He's always hated me because of my parents."

"Why does he hate your parents?"

"Because they committed the heinous sin of having a racially mixed marriage. He's always hated all three of us because my father is white. He's constantly calling my father a honky and me a zebra."

"Oh, that's terrible. No wonder you don't like your father-in-law very much."

"I love Pop, but it's just a cold, hard fact that he is _not _an easy man to deal with," said Lionel.

"I figured that out the minute he started trying to intimidate me into selling him my bakery."

"Believe it or not, though, there actually was a time when I did like Mr. Jefferson a little bit," Jenny admitted. "I always admired him for working hard, getting ahead, starting his own business, and getting out of poverty. But after…after he lost his wife…he just became so mean-spirited and cold, and today, there's just nothing in him to like anymore."

"Oh, I had no idea that Mr. Jefferson's wife had died. I'm so sorry, Lionel."

After a brief pause, Lionel decided that it was best to go along with it and allow Louise to believe, for the moment, that George's wife was deceased. "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry, too," he told Louise. "Like Jenny and I were saying, my father never was an easy man to live with. But after we lost Mom, it seemed that every trace of goodness that had ever been inside of him just died."

"Funny. Over the past couple of months, I've been so furious at your father for what he was putting me through that I could never imagine actually feeling sorry for him. But after everything that you just said, _I do _feel sorry for him. Even though he has so much, he truly sounds like a broken man."

Lionel looked directly into Louise's eyes then and told her, "_He is _a broken man, Ms. Wood. Losing my mom has completely destroyed him."

"Oh, that's so sad," said Louise.

"Yeah, it is," Lionel sighed.

"Well anyway, I think we've spent enough time dwelling on Mr. Jefferson," said Jenny. "Tell us about you, Ms. Wood. Lionel tells me that you have two daughters?"

"That's right," Louise said with a big smile. "I am blessed with the two sweetest, most beautiful little girls on the planet. And now that you've mentioned them, I've got to get out my wallet. I have a very strict policy that whenever I get to talking to anybody about my children, I have to show them off."

Lionel and Jenny grinned, and then Louise picked up her purse and took out her wallet and showed them pictures of Melissa and Angie. After she showed them the pictures, Jenny told her, "Your little girls are adorable, Ms. Wood."

"They certainly are," Lionel agreed.

"And I am the proudest mama on the face of the earth," Louise beamed.

"Tell us about Melissa. When did you adopt her?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, my adoption of Melissa became finalized a little over a year ago," Louise replied. "I won't go into too many details, but that poor little child has really been to hell and back in her short life. She really is amazing. She's only ten years-old, but she's wiser and more mature than many adults I know. And she's such a wonderful big sister. She's always so patient with Angie."

"Speaking of Angie, is she adopted, too?" asked Lionel, who was stunned at how very much Angie resembled Louise.

"No, Angie's not adopted," Louise replied, and Lionel and Jenny gave each other a shocked glance for a brief moment before turning their attention back to Louise.

"How old is Angie?" asked Jenny.

"She turned five last month. She's in kindergarten now and she'll be starting first grade in the fall. I can't get over how fast time flies by. It seems like only yesterday that she was a baby."

"If you don't mind my asking, is Angie's father white? Is she mixed like me?" Jenny inquired.

"Yes, that's right," Louise confirmed. "But I prefer not to discuss Angie's father. It's a very difficult subject."

"We understand, Ms. Wood," Lionel told her kindly.

"Speaking of children, do you two have any?" asked Louise.

"No, we don't. Not yet," Jenny responded. "We've been trying for the past couple of years but so far, it hasn't worked out."

"Well, you kids just hang in there. It'll work out sooner or later, I'm sure."

"We know it will," Lionel said while smiling over at Jenny.

"Actually, Lionel and I have been talking about it recently and we've been thinking that if we don't get pregnant anytime in the near future, we might start looking into adoption."

"Oh, that would be wonderful," Louise said with a smile. "Speaking as an adoptive mother myself, I highly recommend it. There's nothing that can truly describe the joy of taking a child into your home, into your life, and giving her all the things she's missed out on."

"I'll bet it's amazing," said Jenny.

"Trust me; it is," Louise assured them as the waiter arrived with their meals.

Once he set their plates down before them, they dug in and enjoyed their food, and they continued with their conversation as they ate. The rest of the evening raced by and it was over before they knew it.

"Thank you both very much for dinner tonight," Louise kindly told Lionel and Jenny at five minutes after nine that night. "It was terrific."

"Thank _you _for coming," Lionel told Louise.

"It was my pleasure. You two really are a lovely young couple. You know, Lionel, if your mother could see you now, I know that she would be so proud of you."

Lionel was clearly very touched by what Louise had just said, and he told her, "Thank you very much for saying that, Ms. Wood. I appreciate that. I really do."

"It's true," said Louise, and they all smiled at each other for several moments. Then Louise told them, "Listen, if in the future, you kids ever decide to spend any of your vacation time in the Boston area, swing by Haven Lake and come and see me."

"We will, Ms. Wood," said Jenny.

"Hey, listen, here's our phone number," said Lionel as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a little slip of paper, and handed it to Louise. "If you ever need anything, give Jenny and me a call."

"Oh, that's so considerate of you. Thank you."

"Of course," said Jenny. Then after a couple more minutes of small talk, they finally said goodbye for the night and left.

* * *

As soon as Lionel and Jenny walked through George's apartment door later on that night, George, Tom, Helen, Bentley, and Mrs. Jefferson were all practically pouncing on them for more information about Louise. They asked a number of questions, which Lionel and Jenny quickly answered, and then things turned more serious when Mrs. Jefferson made a point of asking about Louise's children. Understandably, Lionel was reluctant to get into such delicate subject matter with his grandmother, his in-laws, and his father's next-door neighbor there; he would have been much happier discussing the whole situation with his father in private. But since his grandmother was pressing him, he basically had no choice but to tell everybody everything right then and there.

"Well…Mom says that she adopted a little girl named Melissa last year," Lionel said reluctantly. He knew his grandmother well, and he knew what kind of questions and insinuations were coming next.

"And what about the other little girl?" Olivia asked pointedly. "I'm assuming that _she's _adopted too?"

"Mama, don't be silly!" George snapped. "Of course she is!"

"Actually…" Lionel said hesitantly.

"What is it, Lionel?" Olivia asked her grandson with an evil look in her eyes, and Lionel could easily tell by looking into them what was going through her mind. Although Olivia Jefferson wasn't wholeheartedly cruel, she did have a potent mean streak running through her, particularly when it came to Louise. And whenever there was an opportunity for her to make Louise look bad in George's eyes, she relished in it and took full advantage of it. Even though there was a small part of her that had always liked Louise deep down, she still took great pleasure in doing things to cause problems between her son and daughter-in-law.

"Actually," Lionel sighed, "Mom's younger daughter, Angie, is not adopted."

"Wait a minute. Hold it. Are you tellin' me that Weezy had a baby?"

"That's right, Pop. About a year after Mom disappeared, she…she had a baby. A baby that's racially mixed."

"_What?! _You mean to tell me that Weezy went and had a baby with some jive honky?!"

"Yeah, Pop. It's true. Mom told us herself that Angie's father is white."

"Wow," Bentley gasped.

"Wow, indeed," said Tom.

"I can't believe it," said Helen. "I can't believe Louise actually had a baby."

"A baby that _I _ain't the father of," George said angrily.

"Well, I think that this explains a lot," Olivia said with an air of satisfaction.

"What do you mean, Grandma?" asked Lionel.

"Now we know why Louise left six years ago. Isn't it obvious? She was having an affair with another man who was living in Massachusetts, and she left us six years ago to go be with him. And on her way to his house, she got herself into that terrible accident she told you about. It was God's judgment on her for being such a terrible, unfaithful wife."

"What are you saying, Mrs. Jefferson?" asked Jenny. "Are you actually trying to tell us that _God _made Lionel's mother have that accident because she was having an affair with another man?"

"It's as good of an explanation as any," Olivia insisted. Even though a small part of Olivia had grudgingly liked her daughter-in-law in the past, now that she knew that Louise had had a child with a white man, she was determined to say whatever she had to say to break George and Louise up.

"And you think that despite the fact that Mom's legs were crushed in that accident and she had no memories, she continued messing around with this guy and had a baby with him?" Lionel asked in pure disbelief.

"Do any of you have a better explanation?" Olivia asked evilly.

"Yeah, I do, Grandma," Lionel responded. "I believe that sometime after Mom had that accident, she was alone, vulnerable, and afraid, and desperate for love and comfort. And I believe that since she'd lost all her memories and didn't know that she was married, she started seeing someone and they had a relationship for a while. And I believe that for whatever reason, they had a bitter breakup. Maybe he abandoned her after she told him she was pregnant. Maybe he broke her heart. And maybe that explains why it's so difficult for Mom to talk about Angie's father to this day."

"I think that's a much more likely explanation, Lionel," said Tom.

"So do I," Helen agreed.

"Well I still say it's far more likely that Louise was having an affair behind George's back!" Mrs. Jefferson childishly cried out.

Aghast, Helen cried out, "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Neither can I," said Mr. Bentley.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, either," said Tom.

Helen then walked over to Olivia, looked into her eyes, and said, "You want to know something, Mrs. Jefferson? In the time that Tom and I were blessed to know Louise and have her here with us, I always saw how badly you treated her. You always did everything you could to try to undermine Louise in the eyes of her husband. You always took such cruel pleasure in starting arguments between George and Louise. There wasn't anything you wouldn't do to try and drive a wedge between them. I used to brush it off. I used to tell myself, 'Oh, she's just being a typical mother-in-law.' And I kept my mouth shut because you were older and I was afraid I would come off sounding disrespectful if I dared to tell you what I actually think of you. But Louise was my very best friend, and she always will be, and because I love her so much, I cannot stay quiet about your despicable behavior any longer. Louise _always _treated you with love and respect, Mrs. Jefferson. _Always_. She never did anything in the past to deserve your mean-spiritedness or your rejection. And she doesn't deserve this kind of crap from you now, either. I know Louise, and I know that this whole idea you've concocted in your head about her having an affair with another man is nothing but garbage. Stupid, childish, senseless, ridiculous garbage. You know, old lady, I honestly believed that you seeing your son dry up and die on the inside like he has over these past few years would be enough to make you realize how wrong you were to try and drive him and Louise apart. But now, I see that I was wrong. You may be in your eighties, but inside, you're nothing but a pathetic, spoiled two-year-old, just like your son. And you're never going to change. You're never going to grow up."

Olivia was expecting George to get angry and start yelling at Helen in those next few moments, so to say the least, she was pretty dejected when George remained silent. Finally, Tom came up to Helen, laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, and said, "Sweetheart, maybe we should go."

"Maybe we should," Helen agreed, and then she and Tom said goodnight to everybody and went upstairs. Moments later, Lionel and Jenny also said goodbye and left.

Afterwards, when it was just George, Mrs. Jefferson, and Mr. Bentley there, Mr. Bentley walked up to George and said, "Mr. J., please forgive me. I realize that this probably isn't any of my business, but I read novels all the time, and in so many of the stories I've read through the years, characters have gotten themselves into so much trouble because they hastily jumped to conclusions without having all the facts first. I know that it's distressing learning that Mrs. J. had a child with someone else, but please, don't be too quick to jump to conclusions. Wait until you have _all _the facts first. Wait until you have _all _the pieces to the puzzle. _Then _decide what to do."

"I may _never_ know what to do, Bentley," George sighed.

Mr. Bentley kindly patted George on the back then and said, "Hang in there, Mr. J."

"Bentley, would you please do me a very big favor and get lost?"

Mr. Bentley nodded and said, "Of course, Mr. J. I understand. I'll see myself out."

He left a few moments later, and then George headed towards the door, telling his mother, "I'm goin' out, Mama. I need a drink. Don't wait up for me."

He then slammed the door behind him.

* * *

George stayed gone for the next two days, and naturally, his mother was worried sick, and Lionel was worried as well. Finally, that Tuesday afternoon, George came home. After calming Olivia down and calling Lionel, George and Olivia sat down on his living room couch to talk.

"George, where on earth have you been all this time?" Mrs. Jefferson demanded to know.

"I've just been out, drinkin' and walkin'…and thinkin'."

"Thinking about Louise, no doubt."

"Of course I've been thinkin' about Louise! Who else would I be thinkin' about all this time?!" George snapped.

"There, there, son. I know that you're angry, and you have every right to be. The way Louise betrayed you is unforgivable. But as much as all of this hurts, it's a blessing in disguise. Now that you've finally seen Louise for what she truly is, you're free to let her go and move on with your life. She's built a brand new life for herself out in Massachusetts, and now it's time for you to have a new life, too."

"A new life?" said George, unable to believe his ears.

"That's right, George. It's high time that you started to move on. It's high time for you to get a divorce from Louise and put her behind you once and for all. Now listen, while you've been gone, I've been talking to an old friend of mine from our old neighborhood, Diane Robertson, and she has a beautiful daughter about your age who's been a widow the past two years. Her name is Eleanor, and–"

George angrily shot to his feet then, looked down at his mother, and yelled, "I don't believe you! _I cannot_ _believe _what I'm hearing! I can't believe that even now, after all these years, _you are still _tryin' to drive me and Weezy apart! I never thought I'd say this, but when Helen Willis told you off Saturday night, she was right!"

Olivia got up in that moment and shouted, "George, how dare you speak to your mother like that?!"

"And _how dare you _try to get me to divorce Weezy?! If you honestly believe for one moment that I could even _think _of divorcing Louise, then you don't know me. You don't know me at all. Louise is everything to me, Mama. _Everything_. She always has been, and she always will be. My life these past six years has been pure hell without her. I am _never _more miserable inside than I am when I don't have Weezy by my side."

"George, Louise had a baby with another man! A _white _man!"

"I know that!"

"Doesn't that make you angry?"

"It makes me _furious! _But not furious enough to make me want to give up on our marriage. Like I said, I've been doin' a whole lot of thinkin' these past couple of days, and I realized some things."

"Like what?"

"Okay, let's say that you're right. Let's say that Weezy actually was messin' around with some honky in Massachusetts and that she went to see him on the day she disappeared. Let's say that he's the father of Weezy's little girl. At the end of the day, it don't change a thing, Mama. Not a single thing. I still love Weezy, and I know that no matter what has happened over these past six years, no matter what she's done, I can't live without her."

"You can't do this, son. You can't have a woman like Louise in your life. She'll only hold you back."

"The only one who's been holdin' me back is _you_. Why are you doin' this, Mama? Why are you _still_ tryin' so hard to split me and Weezy up after _thirty years_ _of marriage?_ Do you really hate Weezy that much?" George asked his mother as his angry eyes burned into hers for several long moments, Olivia unable to say a word in her defense. "Helen was right," George continued. "Weezy's always treated you with love and respect. From day one, she has _always _treated you so much better than you've treated her. She's always treated the both of us much better than we deserved. I always demanded absolute loyalty from Weezy. Whenever we had fights, I'd always tell her that there was only one side my wife could be on, and that was either my side or outside. But I _never _treated Weezy with the same kind of loyalty I demanded from her. _You_ _constantly _insulted my wife. _You_ _constantly _disrespected her. And if I'd been a loyal husband, I would've put a stop to that garbage _decades_ ago. Right from the first moment I fell in love with Louise, you have always made me feel as though I have to make a choice between you and her. And all these years, I've been too much of a coward to make the right choice, and Weezy has always suffered because of it, but it ain't gonna be like that no more. I'm gonna tell you now what _I should have told you_ over three decades ago. If I have to choose between you and Louise, then fine. Here's my choice_. I choose Louise. I choose my wife._ I am gonna go to Haven Lake and I'm gonna tell Weezy everything, and then I'm gonna tell her to give up the bakery and come back home where she belongs. And I'm gonna take care of her and her little girls. And we are gonna be happy together whether you like it or not!"

George stormed off to his bedroom then, and Olivia sat down on the couch, buried her head in her hands, and started crying.


	3. George Hears the Truth

**A/N: **See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

**Chapter Summary: **George, Lionel, and Tom travel to Haven Lake together; George confronts Mark about his relationship with Louise.

**Chapter 3: George Hears the Truth**

"Is your grandma still angry?" Jenny asked Lionel that Wednesday afternoon as they sat down together at the Willises' kitchen table. Lionel had just gotten off the phone with Mrs. Jefferson a few moments ago and Jenny could tell that it had not been an easy conversation for him.

"Yeah," Lionel sighed. "She's still furious at Pop because of their argument yesterday, but now, she's mad at me too."

"Why is she mad at you?"

"Because I agreed with Pop. Because I told her that I thought Pop was right and she wasn't."

"Well, good for you. I never thought I'd agree with Mr. Jefferson about anything, but I agree with him now. It really is time that he started putting your mother first for a change. He's put your grandmother first for way too long. Your mother always deserved so much better."

"She sure did. You know, I don't think I ever truly realized just how much Pop was hurting Mom on the inside all these years. But then after she disappeared a few years ago, I got to really thinking about it, and I got to asking myself, 'How would _I _feel if _I _had to put up with a spouse who treated me the way Pop treated Mom every day?' Ninety-five percent of the time, whenever there was a big fight or shouting match between my folks, Mom was in the right and Pop was in the wrong and I knew it. But most of the time, I tried to stay out of it and stay neutral. I used to tell myself that I was taking some kind of moral high ground by staying neutral."

"Well, I can understand not wanting to take sides and get caught up in the middle between your mother and your father."

"Yeah, but Jenny, this was never about me taking any kind of moral high ground. I see it now that 'staying neutral' was really my way of staying a coward. There were times when I stuck up for Mom when Pop was being stupid and making her miserable, but there were many more times when I could have come to her defense but I didn't because I chose to be weak. It was more comfortable that way. Just as Pop always put Grandma ahead of Mom, I always put myself and my own comfort ahead of her when I should have taken up for her and been there for her."

"Lionel, you've always been a good son," Jenny insisted.

"Maybe, but I could have been a _much better son_ to Mom than I was. I just…I don't know. I guess seeing Mom again after all these years has made me realize how much she means to me; how much I really have taken her for granted all my life. How sorry I am that I wasn't always there for her like I should have been. I just wish I could tell her all these things now, but it's too late. Mom's alive, but yet, she's gone. For good."

"Oh, Lionel," Jenny said sympathetically, and then she got up from her seat, went over to him, and gave him a long kiss.

* * *

Early the next morning, George took a flight to Boston with Lionel and Tom. Thankfully, they agreed to go with him because they knew that if they didn't, there was every possibility that George would do or say something stupid and cause a great deal of trouble. They took a cab from Boston to Haven Lake and they arrived at the Haven Lake Bakery at about a quarter after eleven.

Several minutes before they walked through the door, Mark came into the bakery carrying a big bouquet of tulips from his garden, and Louise gave him a big smile as she wheeled up to him.

"Hello, Mark," said Louise.

"Hello, sweetheart," he responded as he handed her the tulips.

"Oh, thank you so much. They're just beautiful."

"You know I had to bring you some," Mark said with a smile.

"I'm so glad you did. You know I'm just crazy about your tulips. I think we have a vase in one of the cabinets back in the kitchen. I'll go find it and put these in some water. Why don't you come back to the kitchen with me? We can talk while I look."

"Sounds good to me," Mark agreed as he walked back to the kitchen with Louise. "Where is everybody today?" he asked then as soon as he noticed that Heather and Frank were both gone.

"Oh, Heather had a doctor's appointment this morning. They're just making sure everything is going well with the baby," Louise explained as George, Lionel, and Tom walked into the bakery. "And I let Frank go to lunch early today."

"That was very sweet of you," said Mark as Louise pulled a glass vase out of one of the cabinets.

"I happen to be a very sweet person," Louise said with a smile, and then she wheeled herself over to the large kitchen sink and filled it about halfway full of water.

"I've known that for many years now," Mark told her, returning the smile.

After Louise took the tulips out of her lap and placed them in the vase on the counter, she looked at Mark and asked, "So how much trouble have you given Estelle this week?"

"Not enough to make her want to quit, I'm sorry to say," Mark teased, and Louise rolled her eyes.

"I have a theory about you and Estelle," said Louise with a mischievous grin.

"If you're thinking that Estelle was raised by wolves and that I'm an angel to put up with her, then you and I have the same theory," he quipped, and again, Louise rolled her eyes.

"Not even close. No, my theory is, I think you and Estelle are constantly exchanging insults and picking on each other because somewhere way deep down in your hearts, the two of you are actually attracted to one another!" Louise kidded.

"Louise, are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!"

"Oh, go on and admit it! Every time you start an argument with Estelle, deep down, you really want to kiss her!"

"I really want to _die _from horror just thinking about it!" Mark said aloud, and then he and Louise just died laughing for the next couple of minutes, all the while George, Lionel, and Tom were standing near the kitchen doorway, meticulously watching them and listening to every word they were saying. Once their laughter finally died down, Mark looked into Louise's eyes and told her seriously, "The only person I'm ever interested in kissing is you."

Louise smiled again, and she looked up at Mark and told him, "Well, I don't know what's stopping you."

Mark then wrapped his arms around Louise's neck, bent down to her and gave her a long, passionate kiss.

"I'm gonna kill him!" George cried out while Lionel and Tom physically restrained him from going into the kitchen and making good on his threat.

"Calm down, George," said Tom.

"Cool it, Pop," said Lionel.

"I'm gonna kill that stupid honky! I'm gonna kill him stone cold dead!" George yelled as Tom and Lionel literally dragged him out of the bakery.

* * *

After Lionel and Tom got George out of the bakery, they spent the next several minutes trying to calm him down. Then a little while later, they found out where Mark lived and they went to his house.

"Now remember, Pop, let me do the talking, alright?" said Lionel as they all walked up to Mark's front door together.

"Yeah, Lionel. You talk while I beat him to death!" George said aloud.

"Pop!" Lionel scolded.

"George, violence won't solve anything," Tom argued.

"Oh, so what am I supposed to do?! Just stand by and do nothin' while that honky goes around kissin' my wife whenever he pleases?!"

"Let's just talk to the man and find out where things stand, alright?" said Lionel as he rang Mark's doorbell, and George responded with a frustrated sigh.

Mark then opened his front door and said, "Yes? May I help you?"

"Yeah, you can help me! You can help me by stayin' away from my wife, chump!" George yelled.

"Pop!" Lionel cried out.

"I beg your pardon?" said Mark.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Moore. Let me explain something. My name is Lionel Jefferson, and this is my father, George Jefferson, and my father-in-law, Tom Willis, and we're all here in Haven Lake because we want to find out some information about Louise Wood. You see, Louise Wood is my mother."

"Your mother?" Mark gasped, unable to believe his ears.

"That's right. And my pop, here, is her husband. And he saw you two kissing in the back of the bakery earlier today. That's why he's pretty hot under the collar right now."

"Oh, my Lord," Mark gasped.

"Yeah, that's right! You'd better pray to the good Lord because you gonna need Him when I get done with you!" George shouted while Lionel and Tom held him back.

"Pop, will you please just cool it?! This isn't helping!"

"It certainly isn't!" Tom cried out. "George, will you please calm down…for _all _our sakes?"

"You'd all better come inside," Mark said quietly, and then the three men followed Mark into his house.

* * *

George, Lionel, and Tom all sat down together at Mark's kitchen table, and the three men brought Mark up to speed about Louise's life with them and everything their family had been through since her disappearance six years ago.

"It's been agony all these years, Mr. Moore," Lionel told him truthfully. "We didn't know where Mom was or what had happened to her. We didn't even know if she was alive or not until this past Saturday when she came to Pop's office."

"All these years, neither Louise nor I had a clue about her past. I had no idea that she had a husband, a son, a daughter-in-law. I can't believe it."

"Pop and I couldn't believe it either when we saw her again. To tell the truth, we're all still in shock."

"I imagine," Mark said sympathetically.

"I just don't understand. Why didn't the authorities try to find out Mom's identity when she first arrived at the hospital in Boston?"

"Oh, they did. They had Louise's picture sent out to every police station in the state, trying to find any family she might have. Trouble was, they were looking in the wrong state."

"Unfortunately, it is true that the government's ability to track down missing persons in this country is painfully lacking," Tom chimed in.

"No kidding," Mark agreed.

"I tried so hard to find Weezy," George said soberly. "I called the cops every single day, tryin' to find out if there was a new lead on Weezy's case. I went out lookin' for her every day, every night, just walkin' the streets, callin' her name. I hired a bunch of private detectives over the years to try and trace Weezy down. But no matter how hard I tried to find her, nothin' ever worked."

"I am sorry, Mr. Jefferson," Mark said sadly. "I can only imagine how hard these past few years have been for you, especially after losing a gem as priceless as Louise. It must've been pure hell without her." Mark had hated George ever since he'd started trying to force Louise out of her home and business, but after spending a little time with him and seeing the horrific toll Louise's disappearance had taken on him, Mark couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"_It was_ pure hell without her. And as soon as I get Weezy home, I ain't _never _lettin' her outta my sight again as long as I live."

"Mr. Jefferson, before you say or do anything regarding your wife, I think I ought to fill in some blanks for you. Louise may be your wife, but there's a great deal about her that you do not know."

"We'd really appreciate that, Mr. Moore," said Lionel. "It'd mean a lot to us to know what these past six years have been like for Mom."

"Well, you gentlemen need to brace yourselves. The truth's really going to hurt," Mark warned them.

"If you're talking about the accident, we already know about that, Mr. Moore," said Lionel.

"Accident?"

"Yeah. When Mom came to see Pop, she told us about the accident she had that made her disabled and made her lose her memory."

Mark shook his head then and said, "Louise wasn't in an accident. She was lying."

"I find that pretty hard to believe. My mother's the most honest person I've ever known."

"The vast majority of the time, Louise _is _the most honest person on the planet. But she lied to you two about what happened to her because the truth is too painful for her to talk about."

George and Lionel glanced at each other for several long moments, each of them scared to find out where this was heading. Finally, George looked Mark in the eyes and asked him, "Moore, what happened? What happened to my wife?"

"Do you guys remember a serial killer who was kidnapping and murdering women in the Manhattan area a few years ago?"

"Yeah, the Forty-Niner," said Lionel with a sense of dread.

"That's right," Mark confirmed.

"We all knew that Louise disappeared on the day that he was supposedly going to kidnap and murder his latest victim," said Tom. "We've all been scared these past few years that Louise's disappearance had something to do with him. Until Louise came to George's office the other day, we were terrified that she'd been killed by him."

"Saul Donaldson, a.k.a. the Forty-Niner, kidnapped and murdered a whole string of victims in succession in New York, but what the press and the authorities _didn't _know at the time was that he had also kidnapped and murdered many other victims throughout the state of Massachusetts over the past several years, and not always on the forty-ninth day after his last murder."

"Yeah, I remember there being this big story about his capture. He was caught kidnapping this woman and taking her to this dilapidated cabin he owned in a small town near Boston, and the police found three other victims he'd been holding hostage there, plus a number of dead bodies," said Lionel.

"That town was Haven Lake, and Louise and I were two of his victims. The third victim you're talking about is a little girl named Melissa."

"The little girl Mom adopted?"

"That's right."

"Wait-wait-wait-wait. Hold on a minute. Are you tellin' me that somebody _did this _to Weezy? Somebody actually hurt my wife bad enough to put her in a wheelchair?" asked George.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Mark responded. "Louise and I were beaten and tortured by him for months. I always tried to take as much abuse for Louise and Melissa as I possibly could, but there were times when I wasn't able to take their place like I wanted to. Louise went through pure hell in that cabin, gentlemen," Mark said in a grave tone as all three men visibly stiffened. They knew that what they were going to hear next was going to be extremely painful and they tried to brace themselves inside for it as best they could. "There were times, many times, when I wasn't able to take beatings for them, either because I was too weak or unconscious, or because that monster had me tied up in another room and it was just him with Louise and Melissa. There was one time, about three months after he'd first brought Louise to the cabin, that Louise attempted to escape with me and Melissa. He'd had her all tied up in his bedroom and done terrible things to her for weeks, but while she was in there, she discovered that he kept a spare gun hidden away in one of his dresser drawers. One day he brought me in there. He had Louise tied down in the bed, and I was tied down to a chair. He left the cabin for a number of hours, and in that time, I worked very hard and I was able to loosen the ropes and untie myself. While I was working to free myself from the chair, Louise told me where the gun was. As soon as I was free, I untied Louise from the bed and I grabbed the gun and found the bullets in another drawer and loaded it. Then we found Melissa and we all started to run away. Just as we were about to run out of the cabin, though, he came through the door, and he pulled out the gun that he was carrying and he held it to Melissa's head. I had no choice then; I had to put the gun down. Then, he…he didn't say a word; he just punched me and knocked me out. When I woke up a few hours later, I was still in the living room, tied down to the chair again, with Melissa sitting on the floor beside me. Then I heard Louise crying out from the basement, screaming in agony. In order to punish Louise, punish all of us, really, for our attempted escape, he spent hours, days, viciously beating her. During that time, he broke both her legs, over and over again, countless times," Mark explained, and his words hit George like whips. Louise mercilessly beaten for hours, days on end. Both of her legs broken over and over. "He must've hit her head terribly hard," Mark continued, "because she was actually unconscious for two or three days after he was finally done torturing her. When she finally did wake up again, she had no memory of who she was. She didn't even know her own name. Melissa was the one who told her that her name was Louise, but to this very day, she doesn't even recall what her true last name is. She doesn't remember any of you. She has no idea that she has a husband and a son. Until today, neither did I."

All the men remained quiet for several long moments, trying to digest everything that Mark had just told them. After a couple of minutes, Lionel asked, "What about Angie? Can you tell us about her?"

"I guess you all have figured it out by now that his abuse of Louise was not just physical. It was also sexual. Louise was raped by him not just once, but many times."

Lionel looked over at his father in that moment, and surprisingly, George was actually quiet. When George Jefferson got angry, typically, the whole neighborhood knew it. When he was upset about something, he had no trouble yelling and running his mouth. But now, George Jefferson was experiencing a very different kind of anger. Now, he was in the middle of experiencing deep, cold rage. He just sat there, as still as a statue, his right hand clenched in the tightest fist. Now, for the first time ever in his life, George Jefferson was literally too angry to scream.

"When we were finally rescued and taken to the hospital, Louise was unconscious once again because of a recent beating, and the doctors ran their scans and they found out that she had swelling on her brain. She was in terribly critical condition over the next couple of months. The brain swelling went down on its own, thankfully, and she went through many surgeries on her legs. Then three and a half months into Louise's hospital stay, the doctors discovered that she was pregnant."

The instant Mark said that, George's clenched fist tightened even more.

A few moments later, Mark said, "It isn't every woman who would give birth to her rapist's child. And in fact, the doctors and nurses tried very hard to bully Louise into getting an abortion. She actually considered it for a while because she was so scared. And it wasn't just Louise's legs that were affected by all the beatings; she also has heart complications. Going through with the pregnancy was a risk, a grave risk. Due to her heart problems, Louise easily could have died during her pregnancy with Angela. But at the end of the day, Louise just couldn't bear the thought of ending her child's life to save herself. As risky as it was to her health, even to her life, Louise went through with the pregnancy like the trouper that she is."

George, Lionel, and Tom just sat there quietly together for a good while, taking in everything that Mark had told them.

Finally, after a long silence, George asked Mark, "Did she have an easy birth?"

"I'm afraid not. The birth was quite difficult. I was actually there with her in the delivery room. You see, by that time, Louise had been living here with me for about three months. The hospital staff had been giving her so much grief over her decision to go through with the pregnancy, they were upsetting her so much, that it was actually obstructing her recovery, and by the time she was six months pregnant, she just couldn't take it anymore so I got her discharged from the hospital and brought her home. I hired a doctor to live here with us and oversee the rest of her pregnancy. I actually served as a medic back in my Army days and I've delivered babies before, and Louise and I had been through so much together that it just seemed right for me to be there with her when she went into labor. She was so brave. She was…amazing. It was so painful and exhausting for her, but she kept going no matter how hard it was. She just barely had enough strength to give birth to Angie. And then just moments after Angie was born, Louise's heart stopped."

"_What?!_" George cried out.

"Right after Angie was born, Louise went into a form of cardiac arrest. Her heart had to be shocked into beating normally again," Mark explained, and Lionel, Tom, and especially George looked as though they'd been kicked in the gut. Everything that Mark had just told them obviously hit them very hard, but no one was as deeply impacted by it all as George was. In those moments, he actually looked as though he was going to collapse onto Mark's kitchen floor. Even though there was nothing wrong with him physically, he literally had to fight to catch his breath.

Several minutes later, after all three of them had (somewhat) recovered from Mark's latest bombshell, he told them all about Louise's long recovery after Angie's birth and Angie's first two years of life. Then he explained everything that had happened that led up to her decision to start working for Garrett Andrews at the Haven Lake Bakery, and how she eventually came to be its owner. After Mark had brought them up to speed on all the events of Louise's life that they'd missed the past six years, Lionel and Tom continued to talk with him about Louise for a little while as George remained silent. Finally, after exchanging the usual pleasantries, George, Lionel, and Tom left Mark's house and went back to New York.

* * *

When George, Lionel, and Tom got back to Manhattan, it was late in the evening. Tom went up to his own apartment while Lionel got off the elevator at the twelfth floor with George.

"Lionel, go upstairs," George told him in a low, somber voice. "Go be with your wife."

Lionel put his hand on George's shoulder then and said, "Pop, I'm real worried about you. I don't want to leave you alone right now."

"I appreciate it son, but I need to be alone now."

"Are you really sure about that, Pop?"

"I'm sure. Go."

"Alright. But promise me you'll call me if you need me."

"I promise."

"Alright then, Pop. I'll see you in the morning."

George nodded, and then Lionel got on the elevator and went upstairs to the Willses' apartment. As soon as Lionel left, George went into his own apartment and locked the door behind him. After locking the door, George took a few steps into the living room, and he stood perfectly still for the next few moments, taking in one deep breath after another. The deep breaths were not an attempt to calm himself, however. They were to prepare himself for what he knew he had to do next in order to release the overwhelming rage and fury that had been boiling inside him for hours.

It was then that George began ripping his apartment to shreds. He threw and broke every object he could find. He broke all the glasses on the bar and flipped it over, causing all the bottles of liquor to crash to the floor, and George just let the alcohol pour out all over the carpet. He ripped the curtains down. He turned over the dining table and chairs, and in fact, he even threw one of the chairs through the balcony window. He turned the couch over, and he picked up the coffee table and threw it through one of the balcony windows as well. He then ripped the phone out of the wall and threw it, and after that, he flipped over the desk. In the next moment, he grabbed the beach painting that had been above the desk, and after breaking it in half over his knee, he threw both pieces of the painting across the room.

Finally, George collapsed to his knees and broke down crying.


	4. An Act of God

**A/N: **See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer. I also want to say that I know it's been forever since I've updated this story and I'm really sorry. I'll try to do better from now on. I also want to acknowledge that one scene in this chapter was inspired by the _All in the Family _episode "Mike's Move," which was written by Milt Josefsberg and Ben Starr, and I want to give credit where credit is due. Thanks for stopping by. Happy reading, and God bless.

**Chapter Summary: **George is devastated after having a heartbreaking dream about Louise.

**Chapter 4: An Act of God**

By the time Lionel, Jenny, and the Willises came downstairs to George's apartment the next day, Lionel had already told them everything that they'd learned from Mark, so when they walked in and found George lying on the floor asleep in the middle of his decimated apartment, they had a pretty good idea of what had happened and why. They spent much of the rest of the day helping him clean the place up, and then they called his mother and got her to come over. As soon as she arrived, they all tried to get George to open up a little and talk about everything that he was going through, but he couldn't. Olivia eventually got George to eat something, and then Lionel tried to convince him to let him stay with him through the night that night, but George insisted that he wanted to be left alone. It was only after Olivia assured them all that she would stay with George that night that they finally agreed to go upstairs. Olivia stayed with George and looked after him throughout the weekend, and on Sunday, Lionel and Jenny said their goodbyes to George and the Willises before leaving for Texas on an evening flight. After Lionel and Jenny left, George tried to talk his mother into going home, but she insisted on staying with him one more night and George relented. Afterwards, Olivia made supper for the two of them, and then a couple of hours later, they both decided to turn in for the night. Little did they know that that night, both of their lives would be changed forever.

Very soon after George fell asleep that Sunday night, he was plunged into a sea of memories that hit him like a moving truck. All of the sudden, he was taken back in time to the day Louise disappeared. However, this was different. It was very, _very _different. He wasn't merely reliving the memories from his own perspective. He was literally standing outside of his own body, _watching himself _yelling at his wife, insulting her, and disrespecting her. Remembering previous fights with Louise from his own perspective was one thing, but actually _watching himself _tearing her down with his words was a whole other ballgame. He tried to move, he tried to run away from the unpleasant scene taking place before his eyes, but he literally _couldn't_. He was left with no choice but to stand there and watch himself and his mother selfishly and cruelly gang up against Louise and rip her apart with their words, both of them _visibly _breaking her heart. By the time Louise walked out of their apartment, there were tears rolling down George's cheeks.

But that was only the beginning. George was forced to watch in horror as that beast of a man came up to Louise on the street, pulled out his gun, and forced her into his truck at gunpoint. George was a captive audience; he could do nothing but helplessly watch as that monster kidnapped his terrified wife, took her to a filthy cabin that reeked with the stench of dead bodies, and did the most inhumane things to her. George was a helpless bystander; all he could do was just stand there and watch all the atrocities of Louise's time in the hellhole play out before him. The first time that animal raped Louise, George yearned to tear him apart with his bare hands and he certainly tried, but his hands went right through him. In the back of George's mind, there actually was a small part of him that was aware of the fact that he was dreaming, but he still tried desperately hard to change the events that were playing out before him like the most ghastly horror movie imaginable, although of course, his efforts were in vain. All George could do was watch in horror as Louise cried and begged for mercy the first time that beast raped her; all George could do was helplessly watch as that monster laughed at Louise's cries, pulled her engagement and wedding rings off her left ring finger, told her in the most demonic voice, "I'm your husband now!" and forced himself on her.

Agonizing hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks, and George saw everything. He heard everything. He watched all the times that Mark bravely chose to get beaten and raped in Louise's place. He watched Louise choose to endure beatings and endless episodes of rape to protect Melissa. And as he watched the hell she went through, he felt as though he himself were personally dying. Watching what Louise went through in the hellhole was in fact the closest thing to hell on earth that George Jefferson had ever or would ever endure in his life. Seeing Weezy, _his Weezy_, being endlessly, mercilessly raped and beaten before his eyes absolutely destroyed him. And that was _before _Louise's legs were broken beyond repair.

When that awful day arrived, when that piece of excrement took a lead pipe and ruthlessly broke Louise's legs over and over again, and all George could do was helplessly watch, George's spirit ended up even more broken than his wife's poor legs. George absolutely died inside as he watched that beast not only break Louise's legs, but pound her chest with his fist as hard as he could and fiercely beat her head into the floor. He hit Louise's head so very hard that when the horrifying ordeal was finally over, George was actually convinced that Louise had been killed. There was no way _anyone _could survive something like that.

Or so George thought. After all the torture had finally ended, George was amazed when he looked at Louise's broken body and saw her chest continue to rise and fall. And when he saw that Louise was still alive, he was both relieved and terrified at the same time. Relieved that she was still alive, obviously, but yet, petrified at the thought of any further torture she might have to endure.

George continued watching in utter horror as the rest of Louise's unspeakable experience in the hellhole played out before his eyes until finally, at long last, she and Melissa and Mark were all rescued. He watched Louise fighting for her life in the hospital with Mark by her side, watching over her just as much as he possibly could. He watched as Louise bravely went through her pregnancy, all the while dealing with the terrible psychological aftermath of everything she'd endured in the hellhole. And when Louise went into labor and was crying tears of exhaustion from the struggle of bringing her baby into the world, George cried with her. And when her heart stopped, there were no words in the English language to describe the terror that filled George.

However, terror was not the only thing that filled his mind. As he watched Louise enduring torture and rape, as he watched her put her life on the line for the sake of her child, as he watched her work so hard to recover and learn how to function in life from a wheelchair, he was filled to the brim with the deepest, most powerful admiration and respect. There was one time during Louise's harrowing experience in the hellhole when she had the opportunity to commit suicide; that beast had brought a knife downstairs to the basement with him one day, and he spent much of that day cruelly toying with Louise, threatening to stab her with it. He eventually dropped the knife on the floor and left Louise alone with it, and for several horrifying moments, George helplessly watched as Louise held the knife to one of her wrists. George couldn't blame her for wanting to resort to suicide to escape such hell, although watching Louise wrestle with the temptation of suicide absolutely killed him. Just as she was about to go through with it, though, Melissa came down to the basement, and as soon as Louise heard Melissa's little feet coming down the stairs, she put the knife down. To say that George Jefferson was amazed by the strength, courage, and selflessness of his wife in those moments would be the understatement of the century. Louise could have chosen to end her agony in those moments, but she didn't. She chose to stay in the fight. She chose to stay alive for Melissa's sake, knowing full well that there would probably be more torturous beatings that she would have to endure. More rape. George had frequently liked to make speeches about himself through the years, about how he'd climbed the ladder of success with nothing but guts, drive, and determination, but he now knew beyond a doubt that it was all a load of bull. George knew it now, he thoroughly understood it with every ounce of his being now, that Louise had more guts, drive, and determination in the tip of her little finger than he ever would have in his entire body. He used to think he was such a hero because of his business success – something he never would have had without Louise to begin with – but George now knew that Louise was a far greater hero than he could ever hope to be just by choosing to stay alive.

And it didn't take a rocket scientist to see it that Mark was a hero as well. Naturally, George had been furious at Mark days earlier when he saw him kissing Louise, but now that he had such a thorough understanding of everything they'd been through in the hellhole together, he couldn't help but respect him. Mark had done everything within his power to try and provide Louise and Melissa with as much protection as he could. He had chosen numerous times to endure beatings and rape for their sakes, and there were also times when he'd risked the Forty-Niner's wrath by sneaking to wherever Louise and Melissa were in the cabin and bringing them water and whatever scraps of food he could find. He'd caught Mark trying to sneak water to Louise one day and Mark endured a vicious beating as a result. There was even one time when little Melissa put her precious life at risk to bring water to Louise as well. That was something that George Jefferson would never, ever forget. George admired Melissa just as much as he admired Louise, and after seeing everything Mark went through to try and protect both of them, he couldn't thank God enough for him.

The dream lasted throughout the night, and in that time, George saw everything that had happened to Louise over the past six years. After witnessing her indescribable courage in the hellhole, he watched her go through many surgeries on her legs and bravely face the challenges of pregnancy and childbirth all on her own without him by her side. He watched her endure physical therapy and he watched as she slowly but surely managed to build a life for herself and her daughters in Haven Lake. The more George watched Louise, the more overwhelmed he was with respect and admiration for her. For the first time ever in his life, George Jefferson was thoroughly and profoundly humbled.

When he finally woke up at five o'clock that morning, however, he wasn't just humbled. He was _devastated. _The dream had been so horrific, so real, that it shook George up to the point that he was actually physically ill. As soon as he woke up, he raced to the bathroom, got down in front of the toilet, and vomited numerous times. And while he was vomiting, his mother came into the bathroom and stayed with him. Once things finally settled down a little, Olivia began crying and sobbing in her son's arms. Astonishingly, Olivia had somehow had the exact same dream George had had, and she actually wasn't the only one. A little while after Olivia came into the bathroom, George's doorbell rang and she went to answer it. It was Florence, and she too had had the prophetic dream.

Florence and Olivia were terribly shaken up, understandably, but neither of them were as bad off as George was. George spent much of that day in front of the toilet vomiting, and when he wasn't vomiting, he was crying and screaming Weezy's name, telling her over and over and over and over again how sorry he was. Later on into the evening, when George's stomach finally appeared to settle down a little, Olivia got him into bed and got him to take a few sips of water, but nothing else. After last night's dream, George couldn't even begin to think of food, and really, neither could Florence or his mother.

Olivia Jefferson was not blind to the fact that _she _was the one who had raised George to be the selfish narcissist that he was today, nor was she blind to the fact that _she also _had treated Louise cruelly on that fateful day, causing her to leave the safety of her apartment and walk out onto the streets, where she was kidnapped by the Forty-Niner. And Florence was not blind to the fact that despite all of Louise Jefferson's kindness to her, she only repaid her generosity with laziness and great arrogance. Even though Louise had done so very much for Florence in the two years they'd known each other, Florence had actually had the nerve and the gall to not only refuse to do what she was _paid_ to do; sometimes, she was downright _disrespectful_ to Louise. Dreaming about the hell Louise had endured had given even Florence Johnston a very strong, powerful dose of something she hadn't had much of throughout her own life: _humility. _For the first time in _all _their lives, George, Florence, and Mrs. Jefferson were utterly and completely broken of every trace of pride.

In the following days, Florence and Mrs. Jefferson did a great deal of talking while George was in bed, practically incapacitated. There was no doubt that their shared prophetic dream was an act of God. The question was, why?

"I thought I knew who I was, Florence," Mrs. Jefferson said soberly as the two of them were sitting down together on George's couch one week later. "I used to think I was such a good person," she said with a bitter laugh. She then shook her head and told her truthfully, "That dream showed me who and what I really was: a small, stupid, selfish, mean-spirited, spoiled fool. Helen Willis was right about me when she told me that George and I were a couple of pathetic, spoiled two-year-olds. That's precisely what we are. We always have been. Both of us. We are both so spoiled, impatient, inconsiderate, thoughtless, hurtful. My son and I are toddlers in adult bodies, and it's pathetic, and I am so ashamed. Of both of us."

Florence nodded and said, "I'm pretty ashamed of myself too. Ms. Jefferson is the most patient, warm, generous person I've ever known. It was only because of her that I was able to keep my job here as long as I did before Mr. Jefferson finally fired me. Mr. Jefferson even told me that I was the cause of a lot of fights they'd had. I was such a sorry excuse for a maid. Worse than that, I was a sorry excuse for a _friend._ I was lazy. I was selfish. I was arrogant. I had more nerve than a rotting tooth. Instead of being _grateful _for everything Ms. Jefferson did for me, I had the nerve to take her and all her kindness for granted. I even had the audacity to make her do half my work for me. I disrespected her. I didn't do what I was being _paid _to do. She was a much better friend to me than I ever was to her, and I'm ashamed of myself. I'm so ashamed of myself."

"Join the club," said Mrs. Jefferson. "Louise was an angel. An absolute angel. Before we all had that horrible dream, I never would have admitted this to myself much less to anybody else, but now, I have to admit the truth. All these years, George and I have been so arrogant, cruel, and downright _stupid. _We had the nerve and the gall to go around thinking that we were above Louise. Shoot! She's as far above the three of us as most people are above rats."

"Ain't that the truth," Florence agreed. "But now that you and I and Mr. Jefferson know the truth about everything that Ms. Jefferson went through – and the truth about how horrible we all are – what are we supposed to do next?"

"I don't know, Florence. Everyone expects older people like me to have so much wisdom; to always know what to do or what to say in difficult situations. But when it comes to you and me, I don't know what to do. And that's doubly true where George is concerned. I've never seen my son like this before. He's so devastated. He's downright _broken_. And I don't know what to say to him to fix it. I don't know what to do now."

"Neither do I," Florence said sadly, and then the conversation ended. There really was nothing else the two women could say to one another, so they just sat together in silence, completely lost in thought.

* * *

The next morning, Mrs. Jefferson (reluctantly) went up to the Willises' apartment and asked for Helen's help – which was not an easy thing for her to do considering the way Helen Willis had dared to tell her off before. (Tom wasn't there, of course, because he'd already left for work that day.) Thankfully for Mrs. Jefferson, Helen was very forgiving and understanding, and she graciously agreed to try to help George.

George was still lying in his bedroom in the dark when Helen arrived at his apartment. He hadn't even been to work since he had that terrible dream, and it was all his mother could do to coax just a little bit of food and liquids into him every day. George was perfectly content to just lie in his bed in the dark, staring at the ceiling, wasting his days away. But the good Lord, it seemed, had other plans.

Helen knocked on George's bedroom door then, and even though George heard her knocking, he had no intention to respond. He just kept lying in bed, staring at the ceiling above him, saying nothing, and Helen didn't even bother to knock a second time. She just opened the door, walked in, and turned on the lights.

"Hey!" George fussed as he shielded his eyes and sat up in bed.

"Good. You're still alive," said Helen.

"Helen, what do _you _want?!" George snapped.

"Believe it or not, George, I want to help you."

"You can't help me! Nobody can! So just get outta here!"

"I can't do that, George. I can't leave you like this."

"Why not?"

"Because no matter how many cross words have passed between us through the years, no matter how rotten you are or how difficult you are to put up with, I happen to care about you."

"Why?"

"Because my daughter is married to your son, and whether we like it or not, that _does _make the two of us family."

"Ya ain't gotta remind me!" George fussed, and then he sank back down in the bed and pulled the covers up over his head.

Helen then let out a frustrated sigh and walked into the bathroom. A couple of moments later, she came out with a glass of water, and then she poured the water all over George's head.

"**GET UP OUT OF THAT BED!**" Helen _loudly _yelled while still pouring the water over him.

"**HEY!**" George shouted at the top of his lungs as he quickly got up out bed. "Are you crazy or somethin'?! What's wrong with you?!"

"George Jefferson, you are the most egotistical, spoiled, immature, selfish idiot I have ever seen in my entire life! You've _always _been selfish and rotten, but the way you're acting right now really takes the cake! Louise has been kidnapped, brutally raped over and over and over again, beaten within a hair of her life, put in a wheelchair, and here you are just lying in bed feeling sorry for yourself! I knew all along what a narcissist you were, but I always believed that somewhere deep down underneath all your selfishness and arrogance, there was some part of you that cared about other people besides yourself. But seeing the way you're acting now, it looks like I was wrong. Louise has endured the closest thing to hell there is on earth, and here's her husband, lying in bed, feeling sorry _for himself _and making everything all about _him_ just as he always does. **HOW DARE YOU BE SO SELFISH?! HOW DARE YOU FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF AFTER THE HELL LOUISE HAS ENDURED?! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO MAKE THIS ALL ABOUT YOU?!**"

"**WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!**" George screamed.

"**You're SUPPOSED to grow up and start acting like an adult! **Your whole life, you've constantly behaved like a ridiculous, spoiled little two-year-old, and up 'til now, you've gotten away with it, but no more, George. No more. From this point forward, you **NEVER AGAIN **get the option to be selfish. **NEVER AGAIN **do you get the option to make everything about you twenty-four-seven, or to throw temper tantrums whenever you don't get your way, or to be chauvinistic and racist. From now on, you are going to grow up and start accepting responsibility for your actions. It was **YOUR BIG MOUTH **that caused all of these horrific things to happen to Louise. **YOU **are the reason why Louise was out on the street the same day that serial killer was there. A silly, spoiled little boy would try to shift the blame for all of this, and he would waste the rest of his life feeling sorry for himself. A true adult, on the other hand, would own up to his own words and actions and accept responsibility for them, and that's what you're going to do. You are going to go back to Haven Lake and tell Louise the truth, and you are going to beg her forgiveness for all the ways she's suffered because of you. And then you are going to bring her back here and take care of her and start being there for her. And I mean **REALLY START BEING THERE FOR HER.** Everything isn't going to be all about George anymore. For the first time in your life, **YOU WILL **take a backseat to Louise and **YOU WILL FINALLY **start putting Louise before yourself."

"You don't think _I want _to go to Haven Lake and bring Weezy back?" said George with tears streaming down his face. "_I do _want to bring Weezy home so I can take care of her."

"So what's stopping you for heaven's sake?" asked Helen.

"I can't face her," George answered with a sob. "You're right, Helen. My whole life, I've been a selfish, terrible person. Weezy was an angel to put up with me the way she did. I know that. I just can't take thinking about everything she's been through because of me. I know I _should _face up to all of this like a man, but I just can't take it, Helen. I just can't. I don't deserve Weezy She's too good for me."

"**So what else is new?! YOU NEVER **deserved Louise. And you never will. And anyway, George, this is not about _you_. This is not about what _you_ can or cannot take. I know the dreams you had that night about Louise were horrifically painful for you. But I know that the good Lord did _not _give you those dreams so that you could curl up in your bedroom and waste the rest of your life in here feeling sorry for yourself. Yes, it hurt you very badly to have to witness everything that Louise went through, but all _you_ had to do was see it. **Louise lived it. **No matter how heavy your burdens are because of those dreams, Louise's burdens are far heavier than yours will ever be. You always love to run your mouth, make big speeches about how you climbed the ladder of success and how you're such a great man because of it. Well, you like to call yourself a man. Fine. Now's the time for you to **act **like one. A silly little boy would waste the rest of his life crying in bed, feeling sorry for himself, making everything all about him. A real man, on the other hand, would summon up his courage, face the pain, accept responsibility for what he's done, and do everything within his power to help ease the burdens his wife is now carrying. You've acted like a silly, spoiled toddler for many years now, George. Too many years. When Louise was here, you always yelled and screamed and threw temper tantrums whenever she refused to let you get away with all your crap. When Louise was here, she always came last. You always put everyone and everything before her. Your mother. Your business. Money. And especially yourself. You've claimed in the past that you love Louise and that she means so much to you, but you've never _truly_ acted like it. I think that all these years, you've always loved _yourself _far more than you've ever really loved Louise. Hasn't the time _finally _come for that to change?" Helen asked George while her eyes bore into his, and then she turned around and left him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

The next day, after George finally pulled himself together physically and emotionally, he invited Mark to his apartment, and Mark accepted the invitation. The morning after that when Mark arrived, George was in his apartment with his mother, and the Willises were there as well. George and Mark said hello, and George thanked him for coming and introduced him to Tom, Helen, and his mother, and then they all sat down in the living room together and got down to business.

"Mark, I asked you to come here today because…well, I was hopin' that you could help me. See, I'm goin' to Haven Lake tomorrow, and I'm gonna tell Louise everything. I'm gonna tell her the truth. I'm gonna tell her all about us. And I'm gonna make her give up the bakery and come back home where she belongs so I can look after her and Melissa and Angela. However, as much as I hate to admit it…it's just a fact that you know Weezy a lot better than I do right now. And I was hopin' that you could tell me more about her. I want to know everything that I need to know so that I can take care of her."

"Well George, I won't beat around the bush with you. I'm just going to give it to you straight. Telling Louise about you two being married and expecting her to just suddenly drop everything and sell her business and come here to live with you is a terrible idea."

"Why is that?"

"When we last talked, I told you all about everything that Saul Donaldson had done to Louise. He beat her. He raped her. He put her through the closest thing to hell there is on earth. And Louise has made it crystal clear to me in the past that due to everything that monster put her through, the _last _thing she wants is to be married. She's told me before how grateful she is that no man ever came around looking for her; that she didn't have a husband. Louise is terrified of marriage. The last thing in the world she wants is to be a wife."

"You know, that actually makes a lot of sense," said Tom.

"How does that make sense?" asked George.

"Well just think about it, George," Helen said. "_Louise was raped. _It's completely understandable that after enduring the kinds of experiences Louise has, she'd be terrified of sex. And sex is a big part of marriage."

"Helen's right, George," Tom agreed. "I've published books on the subject. After being raped, it can take a woman a long time, months, even years, before she's ready to attempt having sex again or even to have a relationship again. The scars of the kind of abuse Louise went through aren't just physical; they're emotional. And healing doesn't happen in a heartbeat. It can take a very long time."

George then let out a frustrated sigh and asked, "Okay, so what am I supposed to do? Weezy may not want to be married, but even so, that doesn't change the fact that _I am _her husband. Am I supposed to just forget about Weezy and just stay here in my high-rise apartment with all my money while she needlessly works her butt off runnin' a business and raisin' two kids all on her own when _she should _be takin' it easy?"

"We're not saying that, George," Mark assured him. "Louise has every right to know that she has a husband and a son. Louise _should _be told the truth. But not all at once."

"What do you mean?" asked George.

"I mean that after all the hell Louise has gone through, you cannot expect her to be ready to just close up her business, pack up her daughters and herself, and leave the only life she knows behind at the drop of a hat. If you spring the entire truth on Louise right now, she'll probably want to file for a divorce, and that's _not _an exaggeration. Louise literally is _that _terrified of marriage. I understand that you've been apart from the woman you love for six long years, and I understand you wanting to get her back into your life just as soon as possible. And I don't blame you one bit. If it were me, I'd feel the same way. But if you're going to get Louise back, you have to take things _slowly_, George. You have to remember that ever since her time in what she and I call 'the hellhole,' Louise has lost all memories of her past. Louise doesn't know you from Adam. When you look at Louise, you see your wife and the mother of your son, but when _she _looks at _you_, she just seems some rich, entitled, mean-spirited jerk who tried to take her home and her business away from her. And like it or not, _her _perspective is the only one that matters, here. When it comes to your relationship with Louise, you are right back at square one. You are right back where you were the moment you two first met when you were teenagers. If you're going to get anywhere with Louise at all, you have to invest some time and effort and energy – _a lot _of time and effort and energy, as a matter of fact. You have to give her a chance to get to know you, and you have to get to know her as well. If you're going to get Louise back into your life again, then you have to win her heart. You have to give her the chance to fall in love with you. You have to prove to her, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she can trust you. And after everything she's been through, trust is extraordinarily hard for her, as it would be for _anyone _who survived the hellhole. She's not going to come to trust you overnight, George. It's going to take _time. A lot of time. _No offense, but I get the sense about you that you are a very impatient man. I think you're someone who's gotten used to getting what he wants the instant he wants it. But if you really love Louise, if you _really _want to do what it takes to get her back in your life again, then for once in your life, you are going to have to be patient. _Very _patient. You have to be willing to stay the course and wait, no matter how long it takes, for her to trust you. After you've won her heart again – or at least her trust – _then _you can tell her the whole truth, and at that point, you'll stand a much better chance of Louise _not _instantly wanting to file for a divorce."

George remained quiet for several long moments, processing everything Mark just told him. Finally, he looked at him and said, "You're right, Moore. I don't like it, but you're right. If I did try to spring everything on Weezy all at once, I'd probably scare her, and that's the last thing I want to do."

"Of course it is, son," Olivia agreed.

"George, if you don't mind my making a suggestion, I think that if you have a general manager, you ought to turn all your workload over to him for a long time while you stay in Haven Lake and spend time with Louise and get to know her."

"Say, that's a great idea," said Tom.

"Why, yes, it's a wonderful idea," Helen agreed.

"I have two general managers, actually," George informed Mark. "But even though I have two general managers, I still end up doin' most of the work myself. I'm just like that. I'm a terrible workaholic. I always have been. That's one of the things Weezy always used to fuss at me about. I practically lived at the office twenty-four-seven and because of that, she always felt that I cared more about work and money and business than I did about her."

"Well if you don't mind my saying so, I think that's something else that you're really going to have to change. If you're really serious about taking care of Louise and being there for her, then you can't divide your love and your loyalties between Louise and your business anymore. Louise _must _come first from now on. _You must _be willing to find a healthy balance between your work life and your home life. If you're really serious about getting Louise back in your life so you can take care of her, then you don't get the option of living at the office twenty-four-seven anymore. You'll have to start working nine to five, Monday through Friday, just like everybody else. And when your workday is over, you'll have to leave the office behind and be fully, wholeheartedly, one hundred percent available to your wife and children. Spending plenty of quality time with Louise, Melissa, and Angie is an absolute must. It's not an option. Being a husband and father doesn't just mean taking care of your wife and children financially, George. It _also_ means taking care of your wife and children _emotionally._"

Again, George remained silent for a little while, digesting everything Mark was saying. At last, he slowly nodded and looked at Mark and said, "Once again, Moore, you're right. Again, I don't like what you're sayin', but I know you're right. I don't know. I just…I know I've got a lot of changes I need to make. _A lot _of changes. My whole life, I've been a stubborn, self-centered know-it-all with a hot temper and a big mouth. And I want to make all the changes I need to make, but I don't know if I can do it. As a matter of fact, I'm scared I can't. I'm so set in my ways."

"Tough," Olivia said to her son quite unexpectedly.

"What do you mean, Mama?" asked George.

"I mean just what I said. You think it's hard having to stop being so self-centered all the time? You think it's hard having to start putting your wife ahead of yourself _for the first time ever in your life? _Tough! George, you've spent your whole life tossing other people under the bus so that you could get whatever it was you wanted at the moment. You've never done that with me, but _you have _done it with everybody else in your life, _especially Louise. _And we both know that all throughout your marriage, you _constantly _acted as though you love me more than you love Louise. And we both know that you always acted that way because I let you get away with all your selfishness and she didn't. Unlike me, Louise called you out on it whenever you did something wrong. I spoiled you and I stroked your ego, but Louise told you the truth about yourself. And because Louise called you out on it whenever you tried to pull a selfish stunt that hurt others, because she wouldn't cater to your ego, she always came last in your life, but it's like Mark said. You don't get that option anymore."

"Right on, Mrs. Jefferson!" Helen said aloud. "George, let me ask you something. How fairly do you think the scales have been balanced between you and Louise throughout your marriage? Have the scales _ever_ been fair between the two of you for a single moment?"

George took in a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and admitted, "No. The scales were _never _fair between Weezy and me. _Never. _Not for a single moment. They always favored me against Weezy. I've _never _given her everything she deserved as a husband. And I know it."

"Precisely," Tom agreed. "Now, it's time for there to finally be _honest scales _between you and Louise. Your constant selfishness through the years has done a great deal of damage, George. And because of that, the scales between you and Louise are going to have to weigh in Louise's favor for a long time until true equality and true healing are finally achieved."

"That's right," Helen concurred. "All these years, Louise hasn't just been your wife, George. She's been your mommy, too, and that's so unfair to her. In addition to providing you emotional support as a wife, she's also had to be the one to set limits and boundaries for you, just like a mother has to do for a spoiled toddler. Louise never should have had to shoulder that responsibility. _You should _have been enough of an adult from day one in your marriage to be there for Louise just as much as she's been there for you. Now, it's time for all of that to change. Now, after all these years, it's time for you to finally, _finally _grow up."

In those moments, George knew beyond a doubt that everything they were saying to him was absolutely true. George had been horribly selfish from day one of their marriage. Louise really _had _come last in his life. She'd always been the most wonderful thing in his life, and he'd been so shockingly _stupid _as to take her for granted every day; to put everything and everyone above her, especially his mother. And what Olivia had told him that day was painfully true. He had, in fact, only put his mother before Louise because his mother had always babied him, whereas _Louise _had always been strong enough to tell him what he _needed _to hear instead of what he _wanted _to hear. All these years, Louise really had loved George far, far more than he'd loved her. Louise had always been the one putting George before herself, while George had continually put himself and his own ego and selfish desires above Louise. Ordinarily, he'd have far too much pride in his soul to admit it, but after the prophetic dream he'd had; after seeing for himself all the hell Louise had suffered _because of him and his big mouth_, he was completely stripped of every ounce of pride for the first time in his life. He knew, _he knew_, that all throughout his marriage, he really had been a pathetic excuse for a husband, and he was thoroughly ashamed of himself. He knew that he really did have to make some sweeping, across-the-board changes in the way he lived his life, and he didn't know where or how to start.

* * *

Later on that evening, a couple of hours after Mark and the Willises had left, George asked Florence to come by the apartment, which she was happy to do. When George was sitting on his living room couch with his mother and Florence that evening, he finally began talking to them about the harrowing prophetic dream they'd all shared.

"I still can't believe it," George told them in a low, solemn voice. "I still can't believe the three of us had the exact same dream about Weezy."

"Mr. Jefferson, I believe with all my heart that that dream was an act of God," Florence told him. "I really do. Just _watching_ Ms. Jefferson go through everything she did was hell for all three of us. But how much more hellish was it for _her _to be the one to have to _live through it? _Jesus wanted us to have that dream. He wanted us to see what an extraordinary woman Ms. Jefferson is. He wanted us to wake up and understand just how badly we've all been taking her for granted through the years. He wanted us to wake up and see for ourselves what selfish fools we've all been."

"You're absolutely right, Florence," Olivia agreed. "All three of us have been nothing but selfish, arrogant fools. We've treated one of God's most precious angels like garbage, and it's got to stop."

"It's going to stop," George said solemnly. "It _has _to. We have to start doin' better. _I _have to start doin' better. I'm just so scared that I'm gonna get to Haven Lake and do somethin' stupid to mess it all up and push Weezy even farther away from me. After that dream, I realize now what an incredibly stupid person I am. Back when I had Weezy in my life, I was actually convinced that she was lucky to have me. Now, I know the truth. Weezy was never _lucky _to have a fool like me. She was unbelievably gracious _to put up with me._ And now, even if I did manage somehow to change everything about myself, change everything about the way I treat other people, especially Louise, the sad truth is, even after all of that, _I still _wouldn't deserve her."

"Take a number, Mr. Jefferson," Florence told him. "_None of us _deserve Ms. Jefferson. We never have, and we never will."

"But even though we'll never deserve that dear, remarkable lady, we still owe it to God and to Louise to do everything we possibly can to help her now," said Olivia.

"That's right," Florence agreed.

"You know, all these years, I always called myself a Christian, but I see it now that I've never _really _been one," George confessed. "I never cared about God or Jesus. All my life, _I _was the only one I ever _really _cared about. I talked a good talk about believin' in Jesus and everything, but the truth is, I never _really _trusted Him. But now, now that I see the way that Weezy has suffered, all because I acted stupid and ran my big mouth six years ago, the truth is _finally _startin' to get through my thick skull. Selfishness, even the tiniest act of selfishness, really can wreck another person's entire life. Even the life of the person you love the most. It makes sense that God has to punish us for every selfish act we commit. It's only right. It's only fair. After the way that Weezy got tortured, all because of me and my selfishness and my stupid mouth, no one deserves to burn in hell more than I do."

"We all deserve hell, George," said Olivia. "_All _of us. The Bible says that _all _have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Mercifully, Jesus loved all of us enough to go to the cross for us so we wouldn't _have _to go to hell when we die, even though we deserve to. All you have to do is trust Him, son. All you have to do is accept the free gift of eternal life Jesus died to give you at the cross. It's that simple."

"Yeah, but ain't there also somethin' in the Bible about carryin' your cross and followin' Jesus?"

"Honey, that's talkin' about discipleship, not salvation," Florence explained. "After you've put your trust in Christ, you have a decision to make. You can choose to go on livin' the way you did before you got saved, bein' selfish, puttin' yourself before the Lord, or you can choose to serve Jesus as one of His disciples. If you choose to go on livin' selfishly to please yourself instead of Jesus, you open yourself up to the possibility of bein' disciplined by the Lord. Just as every good parent disciplines their child when he's disobedient, God will discipline one of His children if that child is livin' a selfish, disobedient life. Furthermore, anyone who chooses to waste his life servin' himself instead of servin' Christ will lose all possible eternal rewards he could have earned when he's judged. Unbelievers are judged for rejecting Christ and they're sent to hell to pay the price for their own sins since they didn't let Jesus pay the price for them at the cross. But believers are judged to see if we did anything worthwhile with our lives after coming to faith in Jesus."

"I understand. And what if you choose to spend your life servin' Jesus instead of yourself?"

"If you choose to do that, if you choose to serve Christ as one of His disciples, then you have to be willing to always put God and others ahead of yourself, in every decision you make throughout your life," Florence elaborated. "There could also come a time when a Christian is called to give his life for Christ's sake, just as many early church martyrs had to do. That's what the Bible is talking about when it says to take up your cross and follow Jesus."

George nodded and said, "I get it. And I do trust Jesus. And I want to spend the rest of my life servin' Him instead of myself. I've got to change. _I've got to. _I see that now. And I know there ain't no way I can get Weezy back in my life and become the husband she deserves without God's help."

Olivia took George's hand then and gave it a loving squeeze, and she assured him, "God _will _help you, son. He will. Just trust Him."

Again, George nodded, and in the next moment, Olivia kissed him on the cheek and gave him a long, warm hug.

* * *

The following day, George spent a long time talking to his two general managers, and by the time he was finished speaking with them, he truly felt comfortable that they could handle all his business affairs for him for the next few months – or possibly longer. Then he made plane reservations for the next day, and he packed all his suitcases. He went ahead and paid up all the rent he would owe to Mr. Whittendale for the next several months in advance, and he asked Mr. Bentley to pick up all his mail for him, which he was happy to do. Finally, on the morning of his departure to Haven Lake, he said an emotional goodbye to his mother, the Willises, and Florence.

"Oh George, I really am proud of you for what you're doing," Helen told him kindly, and then she hugged him.

"Yes," Tom agreed. "You're doing the right thing, George."

"Thanks, you guys. I appreciate y'all sayin' that. I really do."

"It's the truth," said Helen.

A couple of moments later, Florence hugged George as well, telling him, "I know you're scared, Mr. Jefferson." The embrace ended then, and a few seconds later, Florence said, "Change is always scary. But you're an incredible man. You overcame so much prejudice, so many obstacles, to get where you are today, and not everybody could achieve what you have. I know the next few months – possibly the next few _years _– won't be very easy, but no matter how hard it is, _you_ _can_ do this."

"Thank you, Florence. I needed to hear that. I really did," George told Florence, and then she gave him an understanding nod and smile.

In the next instant, George turned to face his mother, who had a couple of tears in her eyes, and she reached out and pulled him into a long, emotional hug.

Once the embrace was finally over, Olivia told her son, "Go. You go to Haven Lake and you win her heart and you bring our dear, precious angel back to us where she belongs."

George nodded and said, "I will, Mama. I will."

George then said an emotional goodbye to everyone and after that, he left for Haven Lake.

* * *

It was about twelve-thirty that afternoon when George's plane landed in Massachusetts, and after he got settled in at small a B&B that was near Louise's bakery, he went to the bakery to see her.

"You say the girls left yesterday, Louise?" Mrs. Wilson, a tall, slim brunette lady in her fifties who was a frequent customer at the bakery, asked Louise at the cash register as George walked inside.

"That's right," Louise answered. "You remember my friend, Leah, don't you?"

"The judge?"

"Yes. The judge."

"Didn't she just get a legal separation from her husband?"

"That's right. Her husband just moved into his own apartment in Boston, and Leah's gone out to Colorado to spend the summer at her cousin's ranch. She took her daughter and her two grandchildren with her, and she invited the girls and me to come along, too. I sure wanted to say yes, but I have to stay here to keep an eye on the bakery. But since Melissa and Angie are such good friends with Leah's granddaughters, I _reluctantly _agreed to let them go to Colorado with them for the summer. I know the girls will have the time of their lives, but even though they haven't been gone a full twenty-four hours yet, I already miss them so much."

"Oh, I know how you feel, Louise. But don't worry. Time flies by very fast. Melissa and Angie will be back home again before you know it."

"I know."

"Have a good day, Louise."

"You too, Mrs. Wilson," Louise said with a friendly smile, and then Mrs. Wilson left.

As soon as Louise was alone with George, her expression changed from a friendly smile to the harshest scowl, and then she wheeled herself around from behind the counter to where George was standing.

"What are _you _doing here? Do you want to get another business demolished or something?"

There was a sad kindness in George's eyes as he looked into the eyes of his wife and said, "I don't want to cause any more trouble for you, Ms. Wood. I really don't. As a matter of fact, I'm here because I want to apologize. I know that I've caused you a lot of stress over the past couple of months or so. I know I really put you through a lot because of my own selfishness and greed and stupidity. I'm sorry, Ms. Wood. I really am very sorry."

Louise's expression turned a lot softer then, and she said, "Apology accepted, Mr. Jefferson. I know you've been through a lot of pain since your wife died, and when we're in pain, we don't always make the best decisions."

"Yeah, that's true, but it still doesn't excuse me bein' a rotten, selfish jerk all the time. I've realized recently that I need to make a lot of changes in my life. I know it now that I need to learn to start treatin' other people the way I want to be treated. I need to stop usin' the loss of my wife as an excuse to be a selfish, cold-hearted creep."

"I'm glad you realized that. For the sake of my own nervous system, I wish you'd realized it _sooner_, but better late than never."

"I really am so sorry for everything I put you through. But I want you to know that startin' right here, right now, today, I am _not _gonna be that selfish creep anymore. I'm gonna be stayin' in Haven Lake for a while. I'm stayin' at the B&B in town, and here's my number," said George as he handed her a small slip of paper with his room's telephone number written on it. "If you ever, _ever _need anything, day or night, I want you to call me. This might be too much to ask too soon, but if it's alright with you, I really would like for you and me to be friends."

Louise smiled and said, "That's very sweet of you, Mr. Jefferson. You know…it looks like the two of us just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we start over again?"

George returned the smile and replied, "I like that. I think that's a wonderful idea."

"Alright, then," said Louise. In the next moment, she held out her hand, shook hands with George, and said, "Hello, Mr. Jefferson. I'm Louise. Welcome to the Haven Lake Bakery."

"Please, call me George."

"Alright, George. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"I think I'd like a dozen jelly donuts."

"Coming right up, sir," said Louise with a smile as she started wheeling herself around to where the donuts were. After she brought the box of jelly donuts to George and he paid her – with an _enormous _tip – they sat together at one of the tables and enjoyed a good, long, pleasant conversation. They talked and laughed for quite a bit, and in their time together that day, George became more grateful than ever that Mark had talked him into taking things slowly. He didn't know how long it would take for him to win Louise's heart again – or even if he _would _win her heart again. But he _did _know that taking everything one step at a time was the best thing he could possibly do. And he _also _knew that no matter how many thousands or even _millions _of steps he might have to take, he would never, _ever _give up.


End file.
